


Outbreak (ON HOLD)

by DarkCanid19



Series: Quarantine [1]
Category: Subnautica (Video Game)
Genre: 4546B, Action/Adventure, Angst, Bad Ending, Betrayal, Character Death, F/M, Falling In Love, Frostbite Update Storyline (Subnautica), Gen, Kharaa Bacterium (Subnautica), M/M, Mystery, Prequel, Quarantine, Subnautica Spoilers, Surprise Ending, god help me this isn't healthy, i'm waiting until below zero comes out to update this, like. i have a plot set up but the story's changing so much, this is a revival of my old fic series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:22:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24321970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkCanid19/pseuds/DarkCanid19
Summary: Architects have landed on 4546B in hopes of finding a cure to the infamous pandemic, Kharaa. Just when things are looking hopeful, things go to hell. The last remaining survivors, scientists J3047 and T6852 rush to find a cure before it's too late for them, or the planet itself.
Series: Quarantine [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1755880
Kudos: 8





	Outbreak (ON HOLD)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a revival of an old fic I made three years ago. I have just recently gotten back into Subnautica, and this is an opportunity for me to lose my writers block on my other story, Bloodline.

_ Memory cache - online _

_ Database - corrupt _

_ Vacancy - false _

_ Unit designation: J3047 _

_ Activate? Y/N _

_ Terminal activated _

_ Relaying memory feed _

_ Approximate date recorded - 1,400 sun rotations ago _

  
  


_ Oldest recorded memory playing _

_ 1,480 sun rotations ago _

_ Title: Planetfall _

_ Approaching 4546B’s atmosphere. Descending shortly. _

J tightened his grip on the counter he was standing over. He felt like throwing up, though he contained himself. He hated expeditions like these -- especially the flight through space part. Turbulence, debris fields, the whole  _ flying  _ bit. It always made him sick to his stomach. He was a scientist. His entire career was devoted to planetary fauna research. Planetary, as in  _ on the ground.  _ Not  _ out in space  _ where anything could happen. He wasn’t scared of space. That was ridiculous. He was just easy to be nauseous and that kind of stuff.

The ship began to shake. J groaned, trying not to topple over. This was the worst part; Landing. Leaving a planet was hard enough, but landing was an entire different story. A whole lot more shaking involved.

And a whole lot more nausea.

**_You good?_ **

He looked up to see T. She was the only one on this ship that he could relate with, or talk to, in that case. She was nice, unlike most of their race. J tried to force a positive emotion through so that she wouldn’t worry.

**_Just nervous. New planet and all. You never know what’s down there,_ ** he told her.

Only half of that was true. The planet, or 4546B as it was named on their star charts, had been discovered ages ago. It was just the fact that no one bothered to look at what was on it due to it being absolutely dominated by water. Not everyone wanted to dedicate their research to primarily swimming. In other words, the planet was unexplored and could most definitely hold ferocious beasts that could jump out of the massive ocean and snatch their ship out of the air before it even landed.

J shuddered at the thought.

The other seemed to read his thoughts.  **_We’re not exactly the first ones here,_ ** she reasoned.  **_We’re right behind another ship that’s heading for the ice cap. They landed four rotations ago and so far haven’t died._ **

**_They’ve only communicated with the Council once, though. They could be long gone in the stomach of something horrible._ **

**_It’s only been four rotations._ **

**_Still!_ **

Surprisingly, T laughed. She was like that. No one else J knew had a laugh like hers, let alone laugh at all.  **_Relax. Once the architects finish the facilities, we won’t have to worry about the water one bit,_ ** she said.

**_How are you so calm about this?_ **

She thought for a moment.  **_Because I know that exploring this planet will be fulfilling my dream,_ ** she replied.  **_That, and an uncharted planet would be better than home any day._ **

That was true. Out here, the Council couldn’t control them. They were lightyears away from their home planet, where the Empire engulfed absolutely every bit of ground. Because their home planet had been drained of all resources, the Council looked to other planets for means of both expansion and sustenance. In fact, their entire race dominated at least seven different class six planets.

Planets were classified by their mass, or size. For example, the planet they were arriving on was a class seven, which was a rare sight. And for something so amazingly large, it was almost entirely an ocean planet.

**_And don’t forget why we’re here in the first place,_ ** T added. She nodded in the direction in which a small test tube resided on a shelf among dozens of others like it. Inside was the most dangerous pandemic the Empire had ever seen. The home planet was already quarantined because of it.

The Kharaa was first discovered on a routine expedition to other planets. One unit became unknowingly infected, which caused the bacterium to spread to the entire crew. Eventually it shut down their entire immune systems, killing the entire crew, but not before it reached the core planet. The last remaining crew member was quarantined, but he escaped and spread the bacterium across the planet. Before a lockdown quarantine was issued, more crews were sent out to find a cure. The other core planets became infected, and soon the Kharaa took over almost completely. So far 140 billion individuals have died due to the disease.

And it was up to J’s fellow crew members to find the cure on this planet. He wasn’t ready for a responsibility like that. He was just a specialist in fauna, not a doctor that spent their entire lives revolved around diseases like this. Then again, he’d rather be out here where there was no Kharaa instead of at home where the bacterium had taken hold of everyone and everything.

He really hoped that the test tube wouldn't break. If it broke, the bacterium would be released to the ship, and most likely the planet they were landing on.

Speaking of which, the ship convulsed as it touched land. J yelped, failing to right himself this time around. Even T was a little startled, keeping herself righted by hanging onto the counter.

_ Landing successful. All units report to bridge. _

J exchanged glances with T, though their expressions were very different. J was worried and anxious, while T was equally excited and raring to make a difference. It was then that J realized that there were two very different people in this universe -- the ones that took things easy, and the ones that took the beaten path for adventure.

**_A’s gonna have our behinds if we don’t move soon enough,_ ** T reminded him, urging him onwards. J reluctantly followed her out of the cabin and down the long, dark corridors of the ship. It turned out that the rest of the crew was already there, and their late arrival brought them judgemental glances.

Sure enough, A9337 was already beginning to issue orders and staff placeholders. He paused from pacing up and down the line of Architects, giving the two a disdainful sniff.

**_Get in line,_ ** he ordered briskly, going back to stare at the holographic monitor displayed in front of him. The other units snickered, though a harsh growl from their Overseer silenced them immediately.

J took his usual place in line, near the end of the right. Next to him, S mumbled something under her breath. The two never did see eye-to-eye, and the fact that he was most likely going to be spending the rest of his life with her wasn’t exactly his idea of a good rest of his days.

_ Please don’t be paired with her,  _ he prayed silently, listening intently to A for his assignment.

**_Planetary scans suggest that the crater we have landed on is indeed a semi-active volcanic zone. Our best bet for a power source is heat, seeing as there is a fairly large volcanically active area underneath the seafloor,_ ** A droned, reading right from his  _ considerably  _ large report. He looked up, eyes glancing over them all before settling on Y.  **_Y5392 will be in charge of setting up a power plant there. After all, he is one of our most skilled designers. He_ ** **must** **_be able to come up with something?_ **

Y dipped his head in acknowledgement.  **_Of course. I assume a crew will be sent my way?_ **

**_Possibly,_ ** A replied boredly. He sighed heavily and went back to his report.  **_Of course, we have our ion power supply. But most of it will be put into our Quarantine Platform. G1337, you’ll be overseeing that project._ **

He would continue to list off designations and locations, where things would be, etcetera. So far J hadn’t been chosen for anything. Lucky. And that wasn’t sarcasm, either. He’d much rather go back home and die to a virus instead of in the jowls of a giant monster. He almost stopped listening until he heard T’s full name spoken.

**_T6852, you’ll be placed in the newest disease research team. Your job in particular will be to expose several organisms to the bacterium. Whatever lasts longer poses a possible cure. Anything works, even if we have to stick it up our posterior._ **

It was apparent that T was trying hard not to burst into laughter. She didn’t, though, avoiding the harsh snarl that the others that  _ did  _ laugh received.

**_I’ll do my best,_ ** she said confidently.

J thought he could faint. He leaned forwards a little to look at T at the other end of the line. How could she be so calm, having to be within such close boundaries with the Kharaa? Doesn’t she know how terrible it is? How it slowly tore one from the inside out until there was nothing left but green, ugly pustules and a rotting corpse? What if the virus got out? What if-

**_J3047, you’re our most skilled scientist here. Our fauna research division will be counting on you,_ ** A addressed, snapping him out of his panicked thoughts.

J cleared his throat.  **_Of course sir!_ ** he stammered, trying to focus again.

A didn’t question it.  **_Dismissed,_ ** he snapped, turning to leave. The most he cared about was himself. He only conversed with others to keep his job, which was so close with the Prime Minister. If he lost that, he lost everything; His title, his career, his respect… A horrible thing to go through.

But before he did leave completely, he paused and beckoned for the last remaining unit to follow him. V nodded, trailing after the overseer like it was no big deal. Before J could elaborate on it himself, T beat him to it.

**_Wonder what that’s all about,_ ** she pondered. Then she shrugged.  **_You never know when it comes to secret Empire stuff. They could be hooking up for all we know!_ **

**_T! What-_ ** J spluttered at a loss for words. He almost scolded her before she began laughing.

**_Get a sense of humor!_ ** she admonished playfully.

The other looked away for a second. It was like his best friend was being torn from him, put in danger, risking her life, even. All for what? Was it really worth it? The virus had already taken hold on so many… Why bother making a change now? Why risk more lives when they could just relocate away from Kharaa and underwater monsters and such?

T seemed to sense his concern.  **_I’m scared, too. I mean, who wouldn’t be? But I’m also excited. I get to meet so many different creatures!_ ** She sighed, shaking her head softly.

**_So am I!_ ** J reasoned.  **_I love new creatures as much as you do! But… You’d be bringing them to their deaths, too, if you think about it. Exposing them to the bacterium is like handing them a gun and telling them to be done with it._ **

She looked at him silently for a moment, processing the idea. She nodded slowly, bringing a hand under her chin.  **_Yeah, that does sound accurate. It’s not like I_ ** **want** **_to, though! I love every living thing! I wouldn’t want to purposely kill them without good reason. And this is a good reason, J. We’re finding a cure._ **

A cure. That was all he had to think about. If they just found a cure, everything would be fine. They could go home again. They’d be heroes. Their names would be written in history documents. They’d be role models.

But J still was torn over the whole situation. How far away would they be from each other? Would they ever see each other again? It just made J want to dig a hole into the ground, crawl into it, bury himself, and suffocate while he cried himself to death.

**_I’ll miss you,_ ** he finally managed, pulling her into a hug.

T hesitated in surprise, but reciprocated and hugged back tightly.  **_I know. I’ll miss you too,_ ** she replied. She then tapped him on the shoulder, gesturing to a group of units staring at them.  **_I think they’re waiting for you._ **

**_Right. Sorry._ ** J straightened himself. He reluctantly stepped away from T, turning to join his team of fellow researchers. He didn’t dare look back.

And yet he already felt like they were lightyears apart.

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
